Monday, March 19, 2012

Tokyo yesterday, Perth today, Calgary tomorrow...

Sorry, no pictures in this post....

There is a flower called 'Yesterday, today, and tomorrow'...

The rationale for the name purportedly derives from the fact that the flower starts blooming with 'soft purple, changing to a pastel lilac and finally turning to a near-white before fading away'....(Source)

While not exactly yesterday, yours truly had the privilege of visiting Meiji University at Tokyo two Fridays days ago to attend a symposium...

Spent a night at a business hotel near Haneda Airport...

While having breakfast the next morning, sitting by the window watching the Tokyo Monorail zoomed by, snow fell... oooh, mid March is supposed to be spring season if we go by the calendar, but in reality, it is still very much winter...

At 4:00 AM last Wednesday, the alarm beeped as instructed...
My sweeto haato sweetly murumured 'ohayo' and I responded with a sleepy 'o...haaa...yo...'

Had to crawl out of my warm futon at that rather unholy hour...

Yes, I had to hit the road again... this time, it was to Perth to visit the University of Western Australia...

As with habit, did all the t-things like gargling and 'rinsing the eyeballs' (with water soaked in used teabags from the day before)... and of course, 'sitting on the throne' to clear the system for the new day...

Been doing this routine for as long as I can remember...

At 4:40, my sweeto haato got up to bid me a 'Have a safe trip' hug and kiss... the three-quartered moon was hanging on quite beautifully at the southern sky, and I was ready to mount the faithful Grasshopper...

But poor Grasshopper appeared to have 'cataracts'... her windscreen was laced with a thin layer of ice...

I poured water from a bucket but no cigar... the cold water had no effect on the cataracts... I got back to the house and asked my suweeto haato for some warm water...

Now, Kansai International is about four hours from Takamatsu Station... for many an occasion during our overseas trips, we used to park our car in the university, catch a cab to Takamatsu Station to take the limusine bus to Kansai International...

But I have decided to drive to a bus stop on the bus route, which is about 30 kilometers from our house, park the car there and take the same limusine bus to the airport... saves a lot of time and bus fare too...

Driving so early in the morning means absolutely no traffic... almost all the traffic lights blink amber or sometimes red, but it is smooth sailing all the way...
 
Reached the bus stop at 5:25 am... it was still dark... I shivered as my upper oriface emitted 'smoke'...

Perth being in the southern hemisphere, is experiencing some pretty extreme temperatures... just days ago, she had temperatures hovering around 40 degrees... imagine, we are having temperatures around freezing point in the mornings...

After the stint at Perth, I shall return to Takamatsu on 21 March... I get to sleep in my cosy, familiar futon, hug my love-bolster for three nights, and then, I am due to hit the road again, this time to Calgary, Canada, where I hope the temperatures won't be too punishing...

Update: Wrote the piece above while flying in midair but did not get the opportunity to post it. The internet connection in Perth is ridiculously expensive. Luckily, the Perth City Information Center offers free wifi.

Anyway, Perth is a really beautiful city... the majestic Swan River... the breath-taking night scene from South Perth of the northern city sky line... the meticulously maintained beautiful parks...the clean streets, the convenience of the CAT buses, the pretty colonial buildings... the magnificent churches... all in all, a very livable city...

Prices however, are extremely expensive, the food, in particular. I'd even venture to say that from my little experiences, I can eat better just as well for less in Tokyo. Hotel rates are also very expensive. Very, very expensive... While visiting Meiji University, I stayed at a business hotel, new, large room, very comfortable and one minute from the train station, decent breakfast, free wifi.... and the rate? 6500 yen.... Here in Perth, a three star hotel room will set you back by about 150 Aussie dollars... approximately 15,000 yen or 130 US dollars... and that, without free wifi... to me it is unimaginable that hotels these days do not offer free wifi... it is almost a given, I'd say...

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Daffodils from the hills...

Yesterday was what the Japanese call 春一番 Haru ichiban...
Shall I say, the first strong wind to mark the start of the spring season?
The winds were, well, howling the whole day and night...

At the individual level, it means the start of the running nose season for yours truly...
In other words, yes, the pollens from the Japanese ceder trees are starting to burst and fly...

Anyway, took today off from work...
It's been a while since I walked the hills with my sweeto haato...

And woah... the daffodils by the hillsides...
Their fragrance... their simplicity... their beauty...

Meanwhile, the nose, oooh... the eyes, itchy...
And... aaaacccchuuunnggg!!

Friday, March 02, 2012

The joys of singing... err, I mean, croaking, again...

For the better part of this winter season, been driving my grasshopper to work...

My excuses?

1. Workload is getting big, so I need to utilize as much time as I can get to do the work

2. The cold is getting to me

3. On the return trip home, I need to pick up some reusable wood from the stone masons' factories...

Yours truly, on the left side...

With so much driving, and nothing much else to do while driving, I said to myself one day, why not do some 'yelling'?

And so, I found myself 're-discovering' an old past-time...
Soon, I was croaking and croaking away...
And it feels good... very good, I must say...

And here, on the right side...

Actually, I love singing... I do...
This is not to say that I am good at it... ;)
I just love to sing... to myself, that is...

And if you are in Japan, chances are, you will probably go karaoke-ing...
As I did when I was younger...
The highlight of my 'singing' was when two of my best friends (both Japanese guys) paired up with me to sing a number called 長崎は今日も雨だった literally, 'It rained again in Nagasaki today'...

Never mind the date in the two photos above... I remain indebted to the individual who bothered to take those pictures and handed them to me...

The performance was actually in December of 1994, in Nagoya, in an event called 留学生の夕べ or 'Foreign Students' Evening'...

The following March (of 1995), my dad passed away suddenly while I was skiing (more like, falling down the slopes) at the mountains in Gifu Prefecture...

The shock from his passing lingered on for an extended period of time... I found myself talking more softly while the thought of karaoke-ing simply disappeared...

Now, almost two decades after the passing of my dad, and also the demise of my mum two years ago, I am  're-discovering' the urge to croak again...

So, if you hear someone near you, humming out of tune, please say hello... :)

Meantime, I derive pleasure to share the two images above, images that remind me of my two minutes of fame on stage...